Spurgeon: August PM
* 08/24/PM
"If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of
corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith;
he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution."
--Exodus 22:6
But what restitution can he make who casts abroad the
fire-brands of error, or the coals of lasciviousness, and sets
men's souls on a blaze with the fire of hell? The guilt is
beyond estimate, and the result is irretrievable. If such an
offender be forgiven, what grief it will cause him in the
retrospect, since he cannot undo the mischief which he has done!
An ill example may kindle a flame which years of amended
character cannot quench. To burn the food of man is bad enough,
but how much worse to destroy the soul! It may be useful to us
to reflect how far we may have been guilty in the past, and to
enquire whether, even in the present, there may not be evil in
us which has a tendency to bring damage to the souls of our
relatives, friends, or neighbours.
The fire of strife is a terrible evil when it breaks out in a
Christian church. Where converts were multiplied, and God was
glorified, jealousy and envy do the devil's work most
effectually. Where the golden grain was being housed, to reward
the toil of the great Boaz, the fire of enmity comes in and
leaves little else but smoke and a heap of blackness. Woe unto
those by whom offences come. May they never come through us, for
although we cannot make restitution, we shall certainly be the
chief sufferers if we are the chief offenders. Those who feed
the fire deserve just censure, but he who first kindles it is
most to blame. Discord usually takes first hold upon the thorns;
it is nurtured among the hypocrites and base professors in the
church, and away it goes among the righteous, blown by the winds
of hell, and no one knows where it may end. O Thou Lord and
giver of peace, make us peacemakers, and never let us aid and
abet the men of strife, or even unintentionally cause the least
division among Thy people.